SPRING THAW DIFFICULTIES 236 



horses were very hot. We came to the boy's rescue 

 by explaining how very bad the roads were, and pre- 

 sented the farmer with an extra rouble by way of 

 peace -ofifering. This had more than the desired 

 effect. In his anxiety to show his appreciation he 

 gave us his best troika, and graciously acceded to the 

 request of our young friend to be permitted to drive 

 us to Ouskam. 



We fortified ourselves with a cup of tea and then 

 drove slowly out of the village. Presently we saw a 

 horseman quite a mile away, riding at full gallop 

 down the hill towards us. When he drew near to us 

 we saw him to be a very rich Kalmuck. He was 

 dressed in a well -fitting suit of velvet. He drew up 

 to us and asked a number of questions in good 

 Russian. He wanted to know where we had come 

 from, where we were going, and was very pleased 

 and interested when we told him that we came from 

 England and described to him what kind of a village 

 London was. When we told him about the telephone 

 and phonograph, however, he seemed to have some 

 polite doubts. He had himself never been further 

 than Bysk. He informed us that he made a living by 

 dealing in horses and cattle. After he left us we 

 stopped at a clear stream and had our first wash for 

 weeks in a stream of clear water. It was delightful, 

 but we would have been still better pleased if we 

 had been able to visit a barber. Our razors had got 

 rusty and useless, and our beards were becoming 

 conspicuous . 



The scenery in this district was still pretty, but the 

 moimtains had dwindled down to hills. Our young 

 friend drove us at a very good pace through fertile 

 valleys such as we had not seen before on our journey, 

 in which the Kalmuck horses are allowed to graze at 

 their own sweet will and unattended. Yet they 

 multiply freely without attention, which explains how 



